1. Crash test: NASA edition

NASA’s first planetary defense test occurred on Monday, Sept. 26, when a spacecraft crashed into an asteroid in an attempt to alter the asteroid’s course.

Watch live: NASA is about to plow a spacecraft into a space rock with the goal of demonstrating how an asteroid threatening Earth could be deflected. https://t.co/KxLstylij6

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 26, 2022

The spacecraft launched in November 2021, with the intent to determine whether it could change the orbit of an asteroid by 1%, but verification could take scientists up to a few months.

“We’re embarking on a new era of humankind,” NASA’s planetary science division director Lori Glaze said to the Associated Press. 

The $325 million mission was NASA’s first test of planetary defense technology, with the goal of  preparing for unprecedented cosmic threats. 

“No, this is not a movie plot,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson tweeted. He added in a video statement preceding the impact: “We’ve all seen it on movies like ‘Armageddon,’ but the real-life stakes are high.” 

For more information, click here. 

2. Trees for peace

This week Gresham became the 35th Oregon community to plant a Hiroshima peace tree. The ginkgo sapling was grown from the seed of a tree that survived the atom bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. It can now be seen in the Japanese Garden in Gresham's Main City Park. #TsuruIsland pic.twitter.com/rO11P4fQbt

— Oregon Forestry (@ORDeptForestry) September 21, 2022

During the week of Sept. 19, a peace tree ceremony was held in Oregon to celebrate the culmination of a four year-long effort to plant saplings that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. 

Hideko Tamura Snider, the guest of honor, was 10 years old when the United States detonated a bomb over her city during World War II. 

The campaign represents “ways to come together in peace, looking with great  hope for the future of this world, rather than perishing in the God-awful nuclear explosion.” said Tamura Snider. 

51 trees in total were planted in Oregon over the four year campaign, the largest amount of Hiroshima peace trees outside of Japan.  

For more information, click here. 

3. Germany loses glacier

According to German scientists the Southern Schneeferner, an ice sheet in the Bavarian Alps, has lost its title as a glacier due to shrinking because of heat. 

The Bavarian Academy of Sciences made the announcement on Monday, Sept. 26. The academy said “the Schneeferner’s ice thickness shrank significantly in large swathes and in most places no longer measures even two meters (6 feet).” 

Scientists in Germany have stripped the Southern Schneeferner in the Alps of its status as glacier after extreme heat this summer hastened its demise. https://t.co/DljsiG4mE2

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 27, 2022

The academy expects the ice sheet to completely melt within the next few years.

Germany now has four remaining glaciers, many of which could melt away in the upcoming  decades according to Bavaria’s Environment Ministry. Experts pinpoint human contribution to climate change as the culprit.  

For more information, click here.